1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording/reproducing unit which records or reproduces information on or from a magnetic recording medium such as a floppy disc which is supported between a magnetic head and a pushing member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The magnetic recording/reproducing unit of this kind, for instance, a floppy disc unit, for magnetic recording or reproducing information on or from a magnetic recording medium or a floppy disc has widely been used for external storage in computer systems.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art magnetic recording/reproducing unit. The magnetic recording/reproducing unit comprises magnetic heads 1 and 5 for recording or reproducing information on or from a lower surface (so-called 0-surface) and an upper surface (so-called 1-surface) of a floppy disc 4, respectively. These magnetic heads 1 and 5 record or reproduce information on or from both surfaces of the floppy disc 4.
The magnetic heads 1 and 5 are defined as a 0-surface head 1 and a 1-surface head 5, respectively. The 0-surface head 1 is fixedly attached to a housing 2 fixedly mounted on a supporting member 6 by an adhesive 3. The 1-surface head 5 is attached to a head arm 7 of which an end (not illustrated) is to be rotatably supported to a base, so that the 1-surface head 5 may be displaced to a position opposite to the 0-surface head 1 in a head loading mode in which the magnetic recording/reproducing unit records or reproduces information on or from the floppy disc 4, the head arm 7 rotates in a direction Y, so that the 1-surface head 5 pushes the floppy disc 4 to the 0-surface head 1. The magnetic head 5 and the arm 7 together form a pushing member. The floppy disc 4 is clamped between a 0-surface head 1 and the 1-surface head 5, and then the magnetic recording/reproducing unit is enabled to record or reproduce information on or from both surfaces of the floppy disc 4.
In such the prior art magnetic recording/reproducing unit, however, the 0-surface head 1 is rigidly attached to the housing 2 by the adhesive material 3 etc. In addition, the housing 2 is also fixedly mounted to the supporting member 6. Therefore, the 1-surface head 5 collides with the 0-surface head 1 via the floppy disc 4 in the head loading mode, so that a large impact force acts on the heads 1 and 5. If such a collision is repeated, not only the performances of the heads 1 and 5 are deteriorated, but also the heads 1 and 5 are likely to be broken.
In order to reduce the disadvantages of the prior art magnetic recording/reproducing unit, proposed is another type of prior art magnetic recording/reproducing unit shown in FIG. 2. The magnetic recording/reproducing unit comprises a housing 12 for accommodating the 0-surface head 1. The housing 12 is connected to a long arm member 13 as a cantilever. Preferably, the arm member 13 may be an integral part of the housing 12. Another end of the arm member 13 is fixedly supported by a supporting member 16.
In the magnetic recording/reproducing unit, when the 1-surface head 5 collides with the 0-surface head 1 via the floppy disc 4 in the head loading mode, an impact force deflects the arm member 13 in the direction Y, so that the collision is absorbed by the displacement of the 0-surface head 1 in the direction Y. The arm member 13 thus deflected is rebounded in the direction Y' by the resilience stored in the arm member 13 itself to reach its home position at which the arm member 13 is not deflected after oscillating. Following the movement of the arm member 13, the 0-surface head 1 a1so reaches its home position at which exact recording or reproducing is performed after oscillating upwardly and downwardly. After both the head 1 and the arm member 13 are stabilized at their home positions, exact recording/reproducing may be carried out.
In the prior art magnetic recording/reproducing unit, however, the arm member 13 is long, and consequently the amplitude of the oscillation of the 0-surface head 1 is large after the collision. Therefore, it takes a long time until the oscillation of the arm member 13 is attenuated so that the 0-surface head 1 is stabilized at its home position.
Until the 0-surface head 1 stably takes its home position, a spacing loss is produced between the 0-surface head 1 and the floppy disc 4, so that exact recording or reproducing cannot be attained.